Yasiin Bey On Ebro In The Morning

For the past few years Yasiin Bey a.k.a. Mos Def has been making more noise for his legal battle with Africa than for anything in music or movie entertainment.

Today the Brooklyn rapper stopped by Ebro in the morning for a rare interview and opened up about where he stands on a bevy of today’s issues.

Touching on such topics like why he hasn’t delved back into the music game to the current purge of confederate monuments, Yasiin gives his two cents accompanied with the kind of science that you won’t be able to look up in any textbook.

Here are the 9 things we learned from Yasiin Bey on Ebro In The Morning.

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Photo: Hot 97

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYR6jIigr9-/?hl=en&taken-by=yasiinbeyy

1. Conor McGregor

Mos is a fight fan and says that Conor McGregor had nothing for Floyd Mayweather. That’s pretty much a given and has already been well established but we’ll take any chance to drive that point home over and over.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW8XLtoAQr8/?hl=en&taken-by=yasiinbeyy

2. Africa

Speaking on the whole South Africa not allowing him to leave the continent thing, Mos says he can’t talk about it but maintains that he “did nothing illegal.” He also adds that he had the option to take it to court but was looking to “work it out in a peaceful manner with the government” and feels that they were trying to make an example out of him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWIpcCwAL_W/?hl=en&taken-by=yasiinbeyy

3. World View

Having traveled across the board, Mos says that people all over are looking at Trump running the United States like it’s the horror movie “The Thing.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWS-LZCgg6h/?hl=en&taken-by=yasiinbeyy

4. Acting Absence

One of the reasons he fell back from acting was because he won’t work with people that he feels aren’t giving 100 percent of themselves to the project. He said he won’t do it “just for a bag.” We guess he hasn’t been offered the kind of projects that excite him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWgCx9MgZNM/?hl=en&taken-by=yasiinbeyy

5. Music Absence

When asked why he hasn’t dropped any new music, Mos answered the question with another question saying, “Wassup with structure around our culture which is unique to any other thing that’s happening in the world before or since it? Why we’re not hearing these voices (such as Jay-Z and Andre 3000)? Why people don’t wanna engage the industry like that? It’s a very good question and I think people know the answer.” He then added “I don’t wanna go deal with that and bring that home to my family or bring that home to myself. I don’t want my mom to have to inherit the f*ckin’ PTSD from running around in the rap game and the [social media] beefs.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BT4ZH_hATRb/?hl=en&taken-by=yasiinbeyy

6. Hip-Hop 2017

Speaking about Hip-Hop in 2017 Mos says he “love the culture but what it looks like is that the technical process around it has surrounded it so that the only people who really benefit off of the culture are the algorithms.” Expanding on that notion Mos adds “Why would I give you my whole life… for nothing?” Guess that ultimately answers why he’s not putting out new music.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUXHN5LAnY_/?hl=en&taken-by=yasiinbeyy

7. New Arists v. OG’s

Yasiin says he can’t listen to everything that drops everyday, “I’m not sittin’ here – I’m not listening to all these n*ggas! Why? I can just listen to already made n*ggas! The shit just gets better with time!” Though he does acknowledge the skills possessed by artists like Jay IDK, Vince Staples and Chance The Rapper, Mos reiterates “Even in the course of the day for the artists that I do like, how much time – if I’m trying to develop myself as a useful human being – do I have to sit and be enter-fuckin-tained? And if I’m gonna just be sitting there opening myself up to be listening to some sh*t, what is it doing for me? What did I learn at the end of this? What beauty was expressed?”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTPmVajgExO/?hl=en&taken-by=yasiinbeyy

8. Colin Kaepernick

Mos respects Colin Kaepernick for standing behind his convictions and for willing to make the sacrifice he made.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRB1jh_Afau/?hl=en&taken-by=yasiinbeyy

9. Confederate Monuments

Mos supports the removal of confederate statues and flags but wonders if that’ll cause the racist behavior to change too. That’s what he wants to see.